Contact device for conduit electric railways.



' No. 682,707. Patented Sept. 17, I90l.

w. F. JENKINS. CONTACT DEVICE FOR CONDUIT ELECTRIC BAILWAYS.

(Application filed Fab. 7, 1901.)

(No Model.)

2/01 61M253 as UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILTON F. JENKINS, OF RICHMOND, VIRGINIA.

CONTACT. DEVICE FOR CONDUIT ELECTRIC RAILWAYS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 682,707, datedSeptember 17, 1901..

Application filed February 7, 1901- Serial No. 46,403. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, \VILTON F. JENKINS, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of Richmond city, State of Virginia, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Contact Devices for ConduitElectric Railways, ofwhich the following is a specification.

My invention relates to conduit electric railways; and it has for itsobject the provision of an improved form of trailing contact devicewhereby electric connection may be made between the motors of a car andthose formsof conductors from the upper surface of which the electriccurrent is gathered by the contact-shoes.

In the drawings which accompany and form a part of this specification,and in which like numerals refer to like parts in the several views,Figure I is a view of the contact device in side elevation. Fig. IIshows a section of the contact device, taken on line a b in Fig. I. Fig.111 shows a section of the contact device, taken on lineodin Fig. I.Fig. IV is a broken view showing a manner in which the contact devicemay be attached to the car.

In Fig. I, 1 is a fiat bar or plow, which is provided with a head orhandle 2, the said head being preferably formed of non-conductingmaterial. To the lower end of the plow 1 is pivoted the insulating-block3, and to this block are attached the shoe-brackets 4 4, which carry theshoes 5 5. The shoes 5 5, to which the connectingwires 6 6 are attached,slide upon the upper surface of the conductors, (indicated at 7 7.) Theblock 3, shoe-brackets 4 4, and shoes 5 5 are not shown in detail, norare they more fully described in this application, as they are so shownand described in another application, bearing the Serial No. 46,401 andfiled on the same day with this application. v

8 8 are the ends of the suspensory-device supports.

9 is the suspensory device, having the pin 10, upon which the contactdevice is suspended. The supports Sand the suspensory device 9 are fullydescribed, illustrated, and claimed in another application, bearing theSerial No. 46,404 and filed on the same day with this application. Thereare several ways, two of which are shown in Figs. I and II, in which thecontact device may be suspended from the pin 10 and in which it may beprevented from becoming accidentally detached therefrom. In Fig. I thepin is shown as having a solid head 11integral with it. When this formof pin is employed, the plow 1 is provided with a slot 12, of a widthslightly greater than the diameter of'the pin 10 and having an enlargedpart 13 of sufficient size to allow the head of the pin to pass throughit. The head of the pin having' passed through the. said aperture 13,the contact device is lowered until the pin 10 engages in the upper endof the slot 12. The sides of the slot 12, engaging behind the head 11 ofthe pin 10, will then prevent the contact device from being accidentallydetached from the carrier 9, and at the same time the contact device is.free to swing on the said pin 10. The slot 12 permits an upward movementof the plow 1 on the pin 10, and the upward movement is called into usewhen the .car to which the contact device is connected is re versed. Thecar being reversed, the shoes 5 5 are of course in advance instead of inthe rear of the point of suspension 10; This position of the shoes wouldbe very well if one could be sure of having perfectly-true lineconductors; but as one cannot it is necessary to reverse the position ofthe plow. This is done automatically. The conductors react against theshoes and force the plow upward. The plow passes the vertical positionand takes an inclined position opposite to that which it originally had.In Fig. II the suspensory device is shown as provided with a headlesspin 14, the'contact device being kept in place thereon by means of acotter-pin 15, passing through the outer end of the said pin. The formof carrier used with this form of contact device may be that shown inFig. VI in the drawings of the application for a suspensory device,Serial No. 46,404, mentioned above. This form of carrier is providedwith a pivoted pendent lug, to which the contact device ispivoted, andforms a link between the contact device and the carrier. It will be atonce seen that this form of carrier allows the contact device to reverseitself upon the reversing of the car, for the pivoted pendent lug allowsthe contact device to pass the vertical position and assume an inclinedposition opposite to that which it originally had. In

this case it is not necessary to slot the plow 1, it being sutficient tosimply perforate it with a circular hole of a size sufficient to allowthe pin 14 to engage in it.

The connecting-wires 6 6 have at their upper ends the terminals 16 16,adapted to engage in sockets located in the ends of the supports 8 S,which sockets are electrically connected with the car-motors. Theterminals 16, the sockets, and the manner in which they connect thewires 6 6 with the motors are fully described in the aforesaidapplication bearing the Serial No. 46,404.

After leaving the shoes 5 the wires 6 6 are led through the shield 17and the casing 18, the object of the shield and casing being, so far asthe wires are concerned, simply to keep the latter in place. The casing18 may be formed of a piece of sheet metal bent around the plow 1 andriveted in place, spaces being left between the end walls of the casingand the sides of the plow to receive the wires. These spaces are shownat 19 in Fig. II,which shows a section taken through the plow and casingand in which 1 is the plow and 18 is the casing. The shield 17, asection through which is shown in Fig. III, is preferably formed in thefollowing manner: 20 is a sheetinetal casing, which may be similar tothe casing 18 or which may consist of two plates riveted one on eitherface of the plow 1, between the ends of the walls of whichstrengtheningstrips 21 21 are placed. The channels 22 for the receptionof the wires 6 6 are formed between the strengthening-strips and thesides of the plow 1. The object of the shield is to protect the wiresfrom damage that might be occasioned by obstacles lying on theconduitslot and also to provide a renewable surface to take the abrasioncaused byrubbingagainst the sides of the said slot.

Having now described my invention, what I claim, and desire to protectby Letters Patent of the United States, is-- 1. In a trailing contactfor a conduit electric railway, the combination of a plow connected tothe car in such a manner that it may swing on its point of suspension ina vertical plane parallel with the conduit, and depending through theconduit-slot into the conduit, a shoe-supporting block pivoted to thelower end of the plow and having pivoted to it one or more contact-shoeswhich rest and slide upon the line conductor within the conduit and areby suitable electrical conductors connected to the motor.

2. In a trailing contact for a conduit electric railway, the combinationof a plow connected to the car in such a manner that it may swing on itspoint of suspension in a vertical plane parallel with the conduit, anddepending through the conduit-slot into the conduit, a shoe-supportingblock of insulating material pivoted to the lower end of the plow andhaving pivoted to it one or more contactshoes which rest and slide uponthe line conductor within the conduit and are by suitable electricalconductors connected with the motor, the insulating-block insulating theshoes from one another.

3. In a trailing contact for a conduit electric railway, the combinationof a plow connected to the car in such a manner that it may swing on itspoint of suspension in a vertical plane parallel with the conduit, andso that it may reverse itself on the reversing of the car, and dependingthrough the conduit-slot into the conduit, a shoe-supporting block ofinsulating material pivoted to the lower end of the plow and havingpivoted to it one or more contact-shoes which rest and slide upon theline conductor within the conduit and are by suitable electricalconductors connected with the motor, the insulating-block insulating theshoes from one another.

t. In a trailing contact for a conduit electric railway, the combinationof a plow c011- nected to the car in such a manner that it may swing onits point of suspension in a vertical plane parallel with the conduit,and so that it may reverse itself on the reversing of the car, anddepending through the conduit-slot into the conduit, a shoe-supportingblock of insulating material pivoted to the lower end of the plow andhaving pivoted to it two contactshoes which rest and slide one upon thecurrent-supplying conductor and the other upon the current-returningconductor within the conduit, and which are by suitable electricalconductors connected with the motor, the insulating-block insulating theshoes from one another.

In a trailing contact for a conduit electric railway, the combination ofa plow connected to the car in such a manner that it may swing on itspoint of suspension in a vertical plane parallel with the conduit, andso that it may reverse itself on the reversing of the car, and dependingthrough the conduit-slot into the conduit, a removable protectingshield,a shoe-supporting block of insulating material pivoted to the lower endof the plow and having pivoted to it two contact-shoes which rest andslide one upon the currentsupplying conductor and the other upon thecurrent-returning conductor within the conduit, and which are bysuitable electrical conductors connected with the motor, theinsulating-block insulating the shoes from one another.

Signed at Richmond, in the county of Henrico and State of Virginia, this21th day of January, A. l). 1901.

W. F. JENKINS.

Witnesses:

EUGENE JoNEs, ARTHUR SoRIvENoR.

